Government is this week set to begin the distribution of insecticide mosquito nets in Kampala city as part of its last leg of the natiowide exercise which began in February last year.
The Ministry of Health has designated Saturday February 24 to begin distributing nets in the five Divisions of Kampala with a target of giving out 1,441,928 mosquito nets. When completed, it is estimated that a total of 2,644,382 people will have been protected from the threat of malaria.
The announcement follows the completion of the registration of city dwellers that will receive the nets. According to the figures by the Ministry of Health, a total of 552,900 households were registered in the Divisions of; Rubaga, Nakawa, Makindye, Kawempe and Central.
Dr Jimmy Opigo, the Program Manager for the National Malaria Control Program in the Ministry of Health said on Thursday that the distribution shall be conducted at the designated points in the different villages. These include polling station centres, schools, community grounds and places of worship.
“The distribution exercise will be conducted by LC1 chairpersons and Village Health Teams (VHTs), supervised by teams from Ministry of Health,” Dr Opigo said.
As a precautionary measure, he advised the public living in Kampala to hang the nets outside in a shade for 24 hours before using them.
Kampala is the last of the six waves in which the country was divided, covering 25 districts.
According to Dr Opigo, the countrywide exercise has so far achieved 95% coverage, surpassing the 85% target. In total, 19.1 million nets have already been distributed.
In the districts of Sheema, Mbarara, Kagadi, Bundibugyo and Kasese, distribution of nets will begin on March 10.
The Long-Lasting Insecticide Mosquito Net (LLIN) campaign is intended to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality through achieving universal coverage.